The Mana Weave

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The Mana Weave defines our cosmos' most fundamental laws of magic; there are several variants of it but all of these are more specific implementations of the Mana Weave for their specific type of magic.
— Kurumi Yanagawa

The Mana Weave is the most core facet of magic in the cosmos; Mana may be the power source for magic and the Leyline Network may move that power source around, but everything abides by the ultimate laws of the mana weave - and the more specific versions of it.

Universally Applicable Laws

The Mana Weave is an unimpeachable, unavoidable set of rules that tie directly into the Atronach system - the unyielding, uncompromising mechanical backbone of the cosmos - that enforces the laws of the mane weave without error and with total impartiality. The laws of the mana weave itself apply to all forms of magic, no matter their type, and these are generally known as the Universal Laws of Magic more colloquially. Beyond these, the specific doctrines of the mana weave - the Arcane Weave, the Fae Cycle and the Divine Mantle - apply to their specific types of magic; these are generally derived from the type of Mana that magic uses - the arcane weave applies to regular and Pure Mana, the fae cycle applies to Fae Mana, the divine mantle applies to Divine Mana, and the Internal Alchemical Boundary applies to all forms of Chi manipulation.

Type

Metaphysical

On the Impartiality of Magic

The Mana Weave is infamously known for how impartial its rules are, and how vehemently the Atronach system enforces them; this is not without reason, as this is absolutely true, but the exact lengths that the Atronach system itself integrates with the mana weave and its doctrinal variants is quite an interesting tale indeed. The Atronach system not only enforces the weave, but it's known to have authority over the weave, and is able to amend the rules at will. It has only done this once in recorded history - to introduce the Arcane Progression Filter to life on Pearalos - but the fact that it can do this is a particularly notable and infamous fact.

The Universal Laws of Magic

While each type of Mana has its own doctrinal law governing it, all types of Mana have to adhere to a specific set of laws first and foremost, the laws of the Mana Weave itself, the so-called Universal Laws of Magic. These laws are few in number, but supersede all others, with the universal laws reigning supreme whenever any conflicts arise.

The Law of Magical Equivalence. Magic cannot create products out of nothing, it must always expend the requisite amount of Mana to produce that product, be that a mote of fire, a divine blast, a sweet roll or something completely different. These values are assigned to all magical abilities in their MP cost.
The Law of Magical Nonpermanence. Magic cannot create permanent objects freely. To create objects, Mana equivalent to the cost of the spell in MP must be expended, and the item will only last for a certain length of time based on the skill of the user.
The Law of Temporal Anchoring. Magic cannot turn back time. It can accelerate the perception of time, and it can slow time to a crawl, but never stop it, nor can it reverse time.
The Law of Magical Fortitude. So long as a being's Magical Aura is active, magic cannot deal harm to them or affect the mind without their consent. This applies to all forms of magic - from mental attacks to healing spells. If a being's magical aura has been depleted, magic can harm them and affect their mind freely. Physical spells - such as fireballs - ignore this law, but the magical aura still dampens the impact of such spells.
The Law of Mana Cycling. Mana must always be expended to cast magic, it cannot ever be avoided. After being spent, mana always converts into the energy of the spell, but will eventually recirculate.
The Law of Universal Decay. There exists a maximum Mana limit in the cosmos that can be expended at any one time, roughly equivalent to the mana flowing within two galaxies at once. Expending more than this amount of mana causes a Big Crunch and a subsequent Big Bang, restarting the universe. Nobody knows if this has ever happened before or will ever happen, but the law is known of.

The Arcane Weave

The principle determining how magic that expends Pure Mana and regular, arcane Mana function. This functionally applies to almost all forms of magic, but not all forms of magic, as there exists more than just this one doctrine.

The Law of Spell Scribing. Arcane spells are not granted or invoked at will, and must instead be learned, typically from spellbooks and grimoires, but not always. As such, arcane spells can also be spellcrafted, and share this trait with Chi magic for being the only cases where this is possible.
The Law of Mastery. Arcane magic gets far more powerful, far more quickly with experience using it. An unskilled arcane magic user is inferior to any other magic user, but a master at arcane magic can only be surpassed by a highly developed Cultivator. Arcane bloodlines can provide an edge in this, but nothing beats experience.
The Law of Spell Complexity. Arcane magic gets more and more expensive to cast - exponentially so - and likely to fail the more complex a spell is. Simple spells are cheap and have no risk of failure, while very complex and large spells are extremely expensive and prone to miscasting.

The Fae Cycle

The principle that determines how magic sourced from the realm of Nyssara functions; these apply only to Fae Magic on a broad scale, but dictate its quite... unpredictable nature, which reflects in the magic itself.

The Cycle of Seasonality. The magic of the faeries ebbs and flows with the seasons, getting more powerful in the summer and less powerful in the winter. The relationship shared between the user and a given faerie court also impacts the power of the magic.
The Cycle of Naturality. Fae magic cannot create artificial, non-natural products, but it creates natural products at a far lower Fae Mana cost than normal.
The Cycle of Nyssaran Mana. Fae magic is completely detached from arcane Mana, and does not require any of it to use the abilities it grants the user.

The Divine Mantle

The principle that determines how magic sourced from the divines - gods and other divine realms like the stars themselves - function; these laws apply only to Divine Magic, and dictate how its Mana offset works and much more.

The Mantle of Divine Mana. Divine Mana can be used in place of other Mana types for divine magical abilities and spells, supplementing between 40% and 80% of the cost of the spell, depending on its alignment towards the divine mana source. If the source is unaspected in nature, it will always supplement 60%.
The Mantle of Mortality. Divine magic can surpass the boundaries of mortality, but to do so requires the expenditure of one's own mortality; excessive dealing with the dead draws a divine magic user ever closer to death, making divine magic undead and liches a very paradoxically common occurrence to circumvent this somewhat.
The Mantle of Hastria. Divine magic is capable of emulating something approximating the elements, but in a divine way. These spells don't cost any arcane Mana and can be fuelled entirely with Divine Mana, and are granted by gods depending on their alignment and domains.

The Internal Alchemical Boundary

The principle that determines how Chi magic works; as Chi magic does not intrinsically use Mana like the other forms of magic, the internal alchemical boundary connects Chi magic to the broader magical ecosystem as well as to cultivation and alchemy themselves.

The Boundary of Cultivation. Cultivation plays a crucial role in Chi magic, as the practice allows for the expansion of one's Magical Aura and the eventual ascension to near-divine levels of power. Cultivation's hold over Chi magic is on par with that of the universal laws.
The Boundary of Exertion. Chi magic does not use Mana, but instead, it uses the same vital energy that beings require to move and do exercise. As a result, most beings cannot practice much Chi magic before exhausting themselves - lest they risk their lives - and most chi users are extremely fit, but the magic is extremely demanding on the body.
The Boundary of Techniques. Chi magic is far more personal than many other magic types, with there being myriad different methods to exert one's magic and use Chi. These generally take the form of martial arts styles such as Karate and Kung Fu, but extremely personal combat styles are common too, making chi magic uniquely personal - alongside arcane magic.

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